High uric acid levels slow elderly thinking
A simple blood test to measure kidney function through uric acid might reveal a risk factor for cognitive problems in old age, according to leading American specialists.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins and Yale university medical schools found that of 96 adults between the ages of 60 and 92, those with uric-acid levels at the high end of the normal range had the lowest scores on tests of mental processing speed, verbal memory and working memory.
High-normal uric acid levels, defined in this study as 5.8 to 7.6 mg/dL for men and 4.8 to 7.1 mg/dL for women, were more likely to be associated with cognitive problems even when the researchers controlled for age, sex, weight, race, education, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and alcohol abuse.
These findings, published in the January issue of the journal Neuropsychology, suggest that older people with serum (blood) uric-acid levels in the high end of the normal range are more likely to process information slowly and experience failures of verbal and working memory when challenged with well-accepted tests.
Lead author Dr.David Schretlen said: “It might be useful for primary-care physicians to ask elderly adults with high normal serum uric acid about any problems they might be having with their thinking, and perhaps refer those who express concern, or whose family members express concern, for neuropsychological screening.”
